Archive for January, 2009

This Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday!, 30 second TV spots during the game will go for $3 million. That’s just for airing the spots and doesn’t include production. Three million dollars to talk to consumers for 30 seconds. Not listen to consumers. Not even dialogue with consumers. Just talk to your consumers. Here’s a proposal for using that money... »

I thought I would change things up a bit today, and instead of looking outward at a campaign or trend, I would shine the light on the PR industry. Specifically, I’d like to share some learnings from my 10+ years as a marketing communications professional. I don’t think of these as being “tips” or... »

Yesterday the U.S. Postal Service warned they are thinking of cutting service in the wake of a negative balance sheet. Here’s the key passage from that article: Postmaster General John E. Potter, in testimony before a Senate subcommittee, warned of a possible worst-case scenario: eliminating the requirement to deliver mail six days a week to every... »

Regular readers of Eyecube will recall my Twitter conversation with @TheBKlounge  and the subsequent discussion on the politics of Social Media transparency that featured thoughts from a whole host of really smart people. Not long after that I started having my suspicions about the person(s) behind the @TheBKlounge Twitter account. Well, today we know the truth. Well played,... »

Ok, those wacky funsters at Glass and a Half Full Productions (Cadbury) have done it again. First it was the “In the Air Tonight” drum solo by a Gorilla. Now, this: And of course, everyone is talking about it. But this one isn’t working for me (and to tell you the truth, I didn’t really dig... »

Interesting piece today in the Boston Globe on the death of cursive handwriting. It is indeed a dying art and one that is becoming obsolete. PSFK weighs in here, throwing some additional dirt on the coffin. But I think there is something valuable here for marketers to think about. A hand-written note is very powerful. It... »

As Faris Yakob likes to remind us:  Talent Imitates, Genius Steals. But what are we to make of the album cover for U2’s new release, No Line On The Horizon? Not one but two artists have strikingly similar artwork according to The Guardian. The work in question is by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. Did U2 rip... »

I’m a big fan of PSFK and I respect the work of the Wall St. Journal, so I appreciated their takes on the impact of new logos for NFL teams. But I think they missed a key concept. The premise of the article is that in recent years teams like the New England Patriots, Seattle... »

I’ve been thinking a lot about Twitter recently and want to bounce an idea off everyone: Would there be a benefit to adding a micropayment model to Twitter? I don’t mean like the current Twitpay tool for sending money to people, but rather hardwiring a payment system into Twitter itself. Something like this: A one-time, non-refundable, two... »

Today I want to posse a question. I don’t have the answer, I’m not even sure there is an absolute answer. But it seems an interesting idea to discuss: In Social Media, are exclusivity and openess mutually exclusive?   Sometimes it feels like Social Media has brought back the dot.com bubble. People are using the ‘ramp up, get critical... »